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ICBA supports the continued evolution of broadly inclusive, safe, highly secure, efficient, and instant payment systems that enable risk mitigation and help community banks remain competitive in meeting the payments needs of their customers. ICBA encourages its members to focus on adopting instant payments.
ICBA encourages instant payment networks to continue to focus on keeping fraud levels low and considering options for making networks interoperable. ICBA recognizes that core processors play a critical role in ensuring community bank readiness and encourages banks to work with their processors and technology partners to adopt instant payments. ICBA encourages the cores to ease entry for community banks through accommodating pricing and supportive project management.
ICBA encourages the U.S. Treasury Department to utilize instant payment methods to deliver government payments to citizens’ bank accounts. This would reduce the number of checks in the mail and could contribute to reducing check fraud.
ICBA urges policymakers to continue to assess and review the impact of instant payments on the current legal and regulatory framework.
In 2023, the FedNow Service launched and the RTP network hit its five-year anniversary. With two instant payments networks now live and in the market, financial institutions are moving quickly to begin offering real-time payment capabilities to their customers. ICBA urges all community banks to develop and implement strategic plans to provide instant payments products and services to meet customer needs.
The implementation and ubiquitous adoption of instant payment systems will strengthen the US economy by providing a platform for continued innovation and economic growth. ICBA recognizes that instant payments can play a vital role in sustaining economic growth and ensuring that American businesses and consumers can access payments products and services that meet the needs of the 21st century economy. In addition, increased adoption of instant payments could help to reduce check fraud.
The attributes of real-time payments potentially impact consumer protection and risk mitigation strategies. Many of the protections included in the existing legal and regulatory framework need to be revisited to accommodate new payments settlement networks such as FedNow, RTP, or card-based solutions.
ICBA encourages the federal government to continue to utilize instant payment methods to reduce inefficiencies associated with issuing checks and promote the benefits of electronic payments and bank accounts. Policymakers should support community banks as they prioritize instant payments by eliminating undue regulatory burdens that may impede adoption.
Faster payments are quickly becoming a priority for banks across the country to support a variety of use cases for their customers. Although the drive for faster payments started many years ago with the publication of Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System by the Federal Reserve, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated many community banks’ plans to implement faster payment solutions. With many businesses and customers now unable or unwilling to process manual payments, such as cash and checks, due to concerns about the virus, a new generation of instant and contactless options can deliver safe, secure, and efficient payments.
Faster payments bring the promise of greater speed and control for consumers and businesses. The faster credit-push model and the use of requests for payments put recipients in much greater control of the funds in their bank account. This benefit cannot be understated because it marks a vast improvement for consumers and businesses that paid by check, only to be left wondering when the check would be cashed.
New faster payment systems are also designed from the ground up to be smarter, with enhanced risk management systems considered and built from the very beginning. Rules and system controls, such as the ability of banks to set transaction limits, will help banks safeguard users and serve as a check against any would-be bad actors.
However, there are many other ways in which faster payments will make a positive impact. There is a growing interest by companies to have the ability to pay people immediately after a job is completed, such as a contractor finishing a project or ride-share driver seeking payment at the end of the day. With faster payments, companies will be able to instantly send payment in those cases, which will improve cash management for companies and satisfy recipient expectations.
The market for faster payments is small but is rapidly growing as more community banks partner with technology providers to access a range of solutions. Faster payment options include, but are not limited to, the following products and systems:
Nacha recently reported a surge in the use of Same Day ACH in 2020—transaction volume and value increased 38.6 percent and 86.1 percent, respectively, to reach new heights of 347.2 million transactions totaling $460.1 billion.
Same Day ACH is the most readily available faster payment solution for community banks because it reaches all financial institutions in the country. Many community banks already offer traditional ACH payment services, such as direct deposit for the payroll of local businesses, so Same Day ACH is an enhancement that is familiar to bank employees and customers.
As more community banks develop and implement comprehensive payment strategies, Same Day ACH is poised to play a vital role in delivering faster, cost-effective payments.
Beyond Same Day ACH, new solutions like The Clearing House’s RTP Network and push-to-card products from the major card network operators also extend faster capabilities to community banks.
Launched in November 2017, the RTP Network now reaches nearly 100 financial institutions and approximately 56 percent of all U.S. DDAs. The RTP Network is the first domestic payment system created since the ACH Network in the 1970s, and it brings many enhancements to improve the payment process for consumers and businesses.
RTP Network features, such as real-time clearing and settlement and Request for Payment, deliver a faster payment experience for community banks and allow business customers to send Request for Payment messages to other businesses or consumers. The use of Request for Payment in B2B scenarios can allow, for example, a company to pay on the spot after the delivery of a shipment. Other companies, like utilities, imagine using the Request for Payment to send monthly bills to customers.
The card networks, notably Mastercard and Visa, are also enabling new capabilities through their Mastercard Send and Visa Direct programs. These solutions utilize the card network infrastructure to allow credit payments to be “pushed” to debit cards.
In a recent report published by the U.S. Faster Payments Council, Mastercard Send said it allows for “secure, near real-time transfers to and from billions of card, bank and digital accounts.” Visa disclosed in its 2020 Annual Report that Visa Direct “enabled faster payouts to over 2.35 million U.S. small businesses and sellers.” Visa also reported that Visa Direct expanded to 3.5 billion transactions globally.
The campaign for ubiquitous faster payments, however, is not finished. ICBA strongly urges the Federal Reserve to assist in achieving ubiquitous, nationwide access to safe and efficient faster payments for all financial institutions and their customers by serving two roles:
Financial institutions will soon gain access to a new option: FedNow, a new instant payment service developed by the Federal Reserve. In February 2021, the Federal Reserve committed to bringing this new service online in 2023.
With FedNow, all community banks will gain access to a new payment system with instant clearing and settlement and requests for payment. These new features will offer community banks and their customers safe, secure, and efficient real-time payments for a variety of use cases. Moreover, FedNow will serve as a platform for innovation for years to come.
ICBA supports the Federal Reserve System in its dual role as payment systems regulator and provider/operator of services. It also: